Pistol construction



Aug. 25, 1953 c. L. PARRIS 2,649,849

I PISTOL CONSTRUCTION Fild July 17,1950

@cz/L Farris" Patented Aug. 25, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BISTQL CONSTRUCTION Cecil L. Parri's, Clarinda, Iowa, assignor to Parr-is Mfg. Co.,, Clarinda,, Iowa, a, corporation 'of Iowa ApplicationJuly 17, 1950, Serial No. 174,310

'Claims. 1

invention relates to a pistol construction and particularly a toy pistol of the air-operated type for firing corks.

One object of the invention is to provide a pistol construction which is readily fabricated an inexpensive manner from metal stampings, molded plastic coverings and stock parts. but which in the final assembly produces a reliableacting air pistol capable of many thousands of operations without breakdown.

Another object is to provide for cooking. the pistol by means of a. cocking handle pivoted at a. point spaced rearwardly of the trigger grip, making it. convenient to hold the barrel of the pistol in one hand while swinging the cooking lever with the other hand.

Still another object is toprovide ,a construction in which a cocking wire when released en,- gages a shoulder to limit; movement of a spring behind a cup leather inthe barrel of the pistol, the shoulder being so formed in an offset part of a stamping so that the burr caused thereby does not interfere with the swinging action of the cocking handle.

A further object is to provide, a simplified trigger action in which a stamping is slidably mounted for movement in a generally rearward direction with respect to the pistol but has an inclined slot in a portion thereof adjacent the cooking wire for elevating the cooking wire out of a cooking notch of the frame of the pistol.

Still a further object is to provide an air pistol. with a safety plug which eliminates: the possibility of shooting rocks or other hard objects; from the pistol which might cause damage orinjury.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device whereby the objects contemplatedare, attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a pistol construction embodying my present invention, a portion of the plastic cover thereof being removed to show internal constructional details and the out-- line of the remaining portion of the cover shownv dotted.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view of the reverse Figure 4 is apartial plan and partial sectional view on the line 4--4 of Figur 2 showing the parts enlarged and; the cocking handle in a, half- QQeked; position.

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view on the li e 5-5; of Figure 1 showing a front elevation.

of, a, safety plug; and

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 66 of Figure 1 showing the construction of the stop notch for the cocking wire.

On the accompanying drawing I have used the reference numeral ID toindicat a cylindrical barrel, {2 a frame plate formed of a metal stamping, and It a cooking lever also formed of a metal stamping.

The frame plate I2 has a projection It located; in the barrel It; for aligning the two with relation to each other. The portion force: fit in the barrel [0. t5;- the frame plate 12- has a pair of ears struck at an angle in one direction and a single car 26 struck at an angle in the opposite direction against, which the barrel l 0- seats in order to cooperate with the portion [6 in aligning the barrel properly with respect to the frame plate l2.

Slidable in the barrel I0 is a cup leather 22 behind which I provide a. metallic Washer 24. A spring: 2-6 is interposed between the washer 24 and: the front end of the. extension [6 of the frame plate, l2-. A cocking wire 28 is connected with the cup- 22 and the washer 24. The wirev 28: extends rearwa-rdly as shown in Figure 6 and has a right angle bend at 30- terminating in a return bend at 32 which extends back into the barrel [0- tosome extent. The portion 36 of the cocking wire 4Z8 normally rests against a stop shoulder 3,4,: formed in, the frame plate I2, the frame plate being offset or embossed as shown at 3,6,: in Figure 6 for a purpose which will hereinafter appear.

The frame plate I12 also has a cooking shoulder 38:-spaced. some distance rearwardly from the stop shoulder 34 and the two shoulders are connected by an arcuate edge 4!] of the frame plate.

, 'Ihe; cocking lever I4 is pivoted at 42 to the frame. plate. and the fram plate is provided with a, notch 4.4: into which a spring detent 46 of the,-

cock-in lever I' l normally protrudes. When the cooking leverisfor-ced from the dotted position of Figure 2 (full line position of Figure, 1) to 3,, the detentv assures that the cocking lever M and. a. plastic handle. 48, which encloses it will be at the proper'foperating angle and stay at that I 6 is a. Adjacent the portion,

angle without dislodgment from the impact of shooting the pistol.

It will be noted that the cocking lever I4 has a hook 50 normally positioned adjacent the stop shoulder 34 as shown by dotted lines in Figure 2 and this hook, during the cooking of the pistol, engages the portion 30 of the cooking wire 28 to move it from the stop notch to the cooking notch as shown by solid lines in Figure 2.

It i obvious that in order to remove the portion 30 of the cocking wire 28 from the cooking notch for firing the pistol, the portion 30 must be lifted. This is accomplished by a trigger plate 52 which has a finger engageable portion 54, a slot at 55, and an inclined notch at 58. The slot and notch coact with shouldered rivets 60 mounted in the frame plate [2 so that the trigger in normal position shown dotted in figure 1 can be pulled rearwardly and will cause a portion thereof indicated at 82 to rise in relation to the cocking notch 38 for releasing the portion 30 of the cooking wire 28 therefrom as shown in Figure 3. Thereupon the compressed spring 26 may expand for forcing the cup leather 22 forwardly in the barrel [8, thus compressing air behind a cork 64 therein which serves as ammunition.

The cocking wire 28 is preferably formed of piano wire or similar hard metal to make the same long-lasting. The stamping I2 may be made of semi-hard steel to reduce burring of the stop notch 34. Even so some burring will occur as indicated at 34a in Figure 6. The burr on the upper side in this figure would interfere with the action of the cocking lever hook 50, if it projected beyond the upper surface of the stamping 12 in Figure 6. I therefore provide the offset at 3% so that even with considerable burring the action of the cooking lever will not be interfered with. This is an important feature in the economical production of a toy pistol that will have a satisfactory life.

In the use of ordinary air pistols or so-called pop pistols it is possible for the user to insert rocks and similar hard objects in place of corks and this sometimes results in damage to property or injury to persons. To avoid this possibility, I provide a safety plug 66 which i merely a cup-shaped metal plug provided with a plurality of openings 68. The openings, of course, are smaller than the bore of the barrel l and while they may permit very small rocks to be inserted, such rocks would not be fired from the gun because they would settle behind the safety plug but at the same time the pistol can be used as intended to compress air behind the cork 64. This is a simple yet effective arrangement to make the pistol safe.

From the foregoing specification, it is obvious that I have provided a pistol construction which is inexpensive from a manufacturing standpoint and yet provides a construction that has a relatively long life and one that is safe to operate.

Some changes may be made in the construetion and arrangement of the parts of my device without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure and use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their'scope without sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

I claim as my invention:

I. In a pistol construction, a frame plate, a cooking lever pivoted thereto, a barrel mounted on said frame plate, a spring propelled element in said barrel, a cooking wire for compressing the spring, said frame plate having a stop notch therefor and a cooking notch therefor, said cocking lever having a handle portion on one side of its pivot and a hook portion on the opposite side thereof for directly engaging said cocking wire and propelling it in an arcshaped path from said stop notch to said cocking notch, a trigger plate slidably mounted on said frame plate for generally rearward movement, the rear end thereof having an inclined notch for effecting elevation of the rear end of the trigger plate which rear end engages said cocking wire and lifts it from said cocking notch as said trigger plate i moved in a rearward direction.

2. In a pistol construction, a frame plate, a plate-like cocking lever pivoted thereto in faceto-face relation thereto, a barrel mounted on said frame plate, a spring propelled element in said barrel, a cooking wire for compressing the spring, said frame plate having a stop notch therefor and a cooking notch therefor, said cocking lever having a hook formed as a part thereof for directly engaging said cocking wire and propelling it from said stop notch to said cocking notch, a trigger plate slidably mounted on said frame plate for generally rearward movement, the rear end thereof having an inclined notch for effecting elevation of the rear end of the trigger plate for engaging said cocking wire and disengaging it from said cocking notch, said frame plate adjacent said stop notch being offset to prevent a burr formed on said stop shoulder of said frame plate from interfering with the movement of said cocking lever across the face of said frame plate.

3. In a pistol construction, a frame plate, a plate-like cocking lever pivoted thereto in faceto-face relation therewith, a barrel mounted on said frame plate, a spring propelled element in said barrel, a cooking wire for compressing the spring, said frame plate having a stop notch therefor, a cocking notch therefor and an arcuate guide edge between said notches, the center of the are being at thepivot point of said cocking lever to said frame plate, said cocking lever having a portion for engaging a hooked portion of said cocking wire and swinging it from said stop notch and along said guide edge to said cocking notch, a trigger plate for disengaging said cocking wire from said cocking notch, the metal of said frame plate adjacent said step notch being offset away from the face thereof next to the face of said cocking lever to prevent a burr formed on said stop shoulder from interfering with the movement of said cocking lever across the face of said frame plate.

i. In a device of the class described, a frame plate, a cooking lever pivoted thereto, a barrel mounted on said frame plate, a spring propelled element in said barrel, a cooking Wire for compressing the spring, said frame plate having a stop notch for the cocking wire, a cocking notch for the cocking wire spaced from said stop notch, the pivot. of said cocking lever being positioned laterally of the gun barrel at a point intermediate said notches, said cocking lever having a rigid handle portion on one side of its pivot and a hook portion rigidly carried by said lever on the opposite side of said pivot,,said hook portion being positioned to'directly engage said cocking wire to move it from said stop notch to said cocking notch, and a trigger plate for disengaging said cocking wire from said cocking notch.

-5.'In a device'of the class described, a frame plate, a plate-like cocking lever pivoted in faceto-face relation thereto, a barrel mounted on said fram plate, a spring propelled element in said barrel, a cocking wire for compressing the spring, said frame plate having a stop notch therefor and a cooking notch therefor, an arc-shaped guide edge between said notches and leading into said cocking notch, said cocking lever having a hook formed as a part thereof for directly engaging said cocking wire and propelling it from said stop notch along said arcuate guide edge to said cocking notch, a trigger plate for disengaging said cocking wire from said cocking notch, the metal of said frame plate adjacent said step notch being offset away from the face of the frame plate next to the face of said cocking lever, to permit 15 repeated operation of the gun in the presence of a burr formed on said stop notch of said frame plate due to impact of said cocking wire thereon.

CECIL L. PARRIS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 786,426 Daniels Apr. 4, 1905 1,234,163 Henderson July 24, 1917 1,332,556 Jelinek Mar. 2, 1920 1,598,204 Lefever Aug. 31, 1926 2,194,142 Foss Mar. 19, 1940 2,458,828 Boese Jan. 11, 1949 

